Welcome to Bimmerfest -- The #1 Online Community for BMW related information! Please enjoy the discussion forums below and share your experiences with the 200,000 current, new and past BMW owners. The forums are broken out by car model and into other special interest sections such as BMW European Delivery and a special forum to voice your questions to the many BMW dealers on the site to assist our members!

Mishimoto is redesigning our line of BMW E46 M3 products to increase performance and quality. Follow our updates as we show you the behind the scenes action that is happening at our facility. Please feel free to post any questions or comments below, as we always appreciate consumer feedback!

Day 1:

The BMW E46 M3 arrived today much to the excitement of our production department. As the car was put onto the lift, everyone gathered around to check out what we were working with for the next week. At first glance, it was very obvious that this car is used regularly on the track. With 2 bucket seats, a helmet in the back, and heavily modified suspension, this car was intended for fun. The Laguna Seca Blue looked amazing, and all of the accessories on the car really make it pop. This car is a head turner for sure.

The engineers quickly began disassembling the car, eager to begin designing new and exciting products for all E46 M3 owners. The first thing on the list was to remove the factory radiator to compare it to our current design. Once the factory radiator was out, the two were compared and measured, looking for any ways to improve our design. Then it was time to install our radiator, which went in with a little modification. Clearances were checked from the fan shroud to the factory mechanical fan, and from the A/C condenser to the electric pusher fan in front.

The engineers then discussed the different combinations that could be designed to allow for the largest increase in cooling efficiency. They discussed the benefits of increasing the overall thickness of the radiator, as well as changing the fin pitch and thickness. They also talked about designing a different fan shroud to accommodate a thicker radiator while retaining the factory fan, and replacing the mechanical clutch fan with electric slim fans to increase space for an even larger radiator.

I wanted to give everyone an update on what our engineers are talking about, as well as answer some questions and concerns about our build! Our engineers have been discussing the changes that will occur to our new radiator design to increase the cooling efficiency.

One variable they are looking at is decreasing the fin pitch. By decreasing the fin pitch we can increase the total amount of surface area for heat transfer by over 20%.

They are also looking at decreasing the fin height and increasing the core thickness. This will add 15 more rows of tubes, which increases the total volume of coolant in the core by over 32% while still retaining fitment with all of the stock equipment.

Design is also underway for the fan shroud with an electric fan. This will be intended for track and race applications, and will eliminate the stock shroud and stock clutch fan to free up a few HP.

I also want to touch on the fact that this is only phase 1 of our design process, and we will be using more than just this car throughout the build.

Phase 1 consisted of R&D. We test fit our current radiator on the car and obtained measurements for the new radiator.

Phase 2 will be creating all of our 3D models and drawings and then tooling and manufacturing production-quality prototypes.

Phase 3 will be final confirmation of fitment on a vehicle, then flying south to do some testing, tracking, and more testing!

While we're waiting for more updates on the E46 Radiator, I thought I would share with you some other things going on at our facility.

The E46 isn't the only BMW getting our attention lately. We've been working on a new intercooler for the 335i, as well as some other awesome products! Check out a few pictures of our 335i Intercooler testing and development.

The 335i loaded up on the dyno!

We tested multiple iterations of our intercooler to ensure our customers would get the best gains possible!

Here is a rendering of our new re-designed radiator with our ‘open-style’ fan shroud concept. We are looking to test this out as we believe that in race and track applications, this shroud will allow for the best airflow through the radiator, while still providing acceptable cooling while the fan is on at idle. This also allows for removal of the clutch fan – potentially freeing up a couple HP. Not pictured is the fan controller we plan on providing, with an NPT temp sensor.